“The Number Three shouldn’t have collapsed,” Desch insisted doggedly. “We weren’t cocky, Supervisor. Sure, it was a risky business, shooting our way through that shocked-rock zone. But Ghosh, Bogarten, me, Talovich . . . all of us . . . we figured out how to do it. We all double-checked the math, tested the shoring. The geometry was right. The shoring should have taken the load. That’s just physics and solid engineering. We’ve been beating our heads against the wall ’cause what happened shouldn’t have.”

Ghosh added, “And we need the Number Three, ma’am. As deep as we are in the mountain with the Number One and Two, we can’t pump out the water make. Our pumps, running round the clock, can barely keep up. Any deeper and we either need more or bigger pumps.”

Kalico leaned back, ran a finger along the scar on her cheek. “Hell of a thing, to be stopped by water after all we’ve been through. Can we make a bigger pump?”

Ghosh nodded. “Bogarten, Stryski, and I can draw up the plans. We’ll need Lawson and Montoya to help fabricate, along with Mac Hanson to cast the housing up at PA. That’s just for the pump. Problem comes with the hose. We’ll need to fabricate that. The larger the diameter, the stronger it has to be to keep it from collapsing under vacuum. And then there’s the power. We’re going to have to figure how much the water weighs, friction in the line, what the load is, and how much horsepower we’re going to need. That means we’re going to have to see if we can generate that kind of electrical power.”

Ituri tapped an index finger on the table as he asked, “Or do we want to use hydrocarbons? See if we can broker something with Ollie Throlson for a supply of diesel? Might be easier to run it on internal combustion than build the electric motor and generate the power.”

“We’ve got a slew of electric motors in old equipment that’s just laying around outside PA’s landing field.” Stryski reminded them as he joined the conversation. “Most of the motors are essentially new. The equipment was abandoned in the first place because of a lack of spare parts that had nothing to do with the engines.”

“Easier than building a diesel from scratch,” Ghosh agree. “But that leaves us back with the generator. Maybe one of the reactors from Freelander?”

Kalico said, “We’ve had this conversation before, gentlemen. If you’ll recall, we figured it was easier to make holes and let gravity drain water from below than to pump water uphill from above.”

“Got an idea?”